-Venezuela’s National Assembly has paved the way to granting special powers for President Nicolas Maduro. Under the measures the leader would be able to govern by decree for 12 months. The bill still needs to be revised by a special commission and debated for a second time, but correspondents do not expect significant changes to be made. Mr Maduro says he will use it to tackle corruption and the economic crisis. However, critics fear he may use it to silence the opposition. The approval of the first reading of the bill comes after a member of parliament, Maria Aranguren, who…

(Reuters) – A 20-year-old deal that has powered American homes while reducing the risk of Russian nuclear material falling into the wrong hands approached its end on Thursday when the final shipment of uranium left St Petersburg for Baltimore. Under the 1993 HEU Purchase Agreement, Russia downblended 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from nuclear weapons into low-enriched uranium and sent it to the United States, where it was made into fuel for nuclear power plants. Over much of the life of the deal, it was used to generate roughly half of all commercial nuclear energy produced in the United States, or…

DUNEDIN, Fla. — A half dozen homes were evacuated Thursday after a sinkhole opened up in a backyard about 20 miles north of St. Petersburg, Fla. No one was injured, but the hole continues to grow slowly, said Chief Jeff Parks of the Dunedin Fire Department. It had increased to about 60 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep by mid-day. STORY: Home swallowed passed inspection STORY: Sinkhole that swallowed Fla. man filled “I thought someone was trying to break in,” said teen Ivy Dupre, who woke up a little after 5:30 a.m. ET when the sinkhole began to collapse. “I heard really loud…

Few ladies can outshine a Victoria’s Secret model on the lingerie brand’s annual runway, but Taylor Swift sure gave it her best shot. The singer performed at last night’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, belting out tunes on the catwalk as models clad in the retailer’s over-the-top lingerie sets strutted past her. But the show was, as always, about the models. Candice Swanepoel, the lucky Angel chosen to wear this year’s $10 million Fantasy Bra, led the pack as Fall Out Boy took to the runway’s stage for the first performance of the night. Fellow Angels Karlie Kloss, Alessandra Ambrosio, Lily Aldridge and Adriana Lima…

(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad discussed plans for a peace conference and progress in the elimination of chemical weapons during a telephone call on Thursday, the Kremlin said. It gave few details but said Putin had urged Assad’s government to do all it can to alleviate the suffering of civilians and “positively assessed” the Syrian government’s readiness to send a delegation to the planned peace talks. Putin also voiced concern over what he called persecution of Christians and other religious minorities by extremists in Syria, apparently blaming this on Islamist militants fighting Assad’s government. “The…